ST. LOUIS — A former executive of security company GardaWorld with headquarters in St. Louis County pleaded guilty on Friday to embezzling $300,000.
According to court documents, Scott H. Foster, 48, of Charlotte, North Carolina, beginning in January 2018 until December 2022, committed wire fraud after creating an employee account for his “paramour.”
While the indictment does not identify GardaWorld, his LinkedIn does show his employment at the company during the time of the alleged crime.
His indictment says Foster manipulated a system within the human resources department to create an account for paramour “J.A.” who was noted to have performed “little to no actual work” for GardaWorld.
Foster allegedly defrauded the company by causing “J.A.” to be paid wages and benefits totaling over $273,000 over five years. Foster’s paramour received an annual salary of $60,000 during the last year of his scheme.
Foster additionally used company funds to pay for personal travel on Southwest Airlines for himself and his paramour, including other friends of his, without any authorized business purposes, according to the indictment.
Foster has been charged with one count of wire fraud.